<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, with\u00a0immaculate timing,\u00a0the Sussexes landed in Jordan, where\u00a0they are\u00a0undertaking a\u00a0mini-tour\u00a0focused on humanitarian aid and support\u00a0for victims of war. Meghan held hands with a teenage girl who had suffered severe burns and lost most\u00a0of her\u00a0family in Gaza. Harry was beaten by his wife in a penalty shoot-out\u00a0at a\u00a0Syrian refugee camp.<\/p>\n
Overall\u00a0the optics have been positive, and without the\u00a0mealymouthed\u00a0\u201ccopycat\u201d\u00a0and \u201cquasi-royal\u201d\u00a0accusations\u00a0that followed the\u00a0couple\u2019s\u00a02024 tours to Nigeria and Colombia.\u00a0It\u2019s a reminder that few\u00a0would\u00a0want to be associated with\u00a0the British Royal Family\u00a0at the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pertinently,\u00a0Harry and Meghan were invited to Jordan by Dr\u00a0Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The WHO\u00a0was keen\u00a0to highlight Jordan\u2019s role in supporting refugees in Syria and Gaza, and what better couple to replace the Trump-sized hole left by the American\u00a0President\u2019s departure from the WHO just last month, than his liberal nemesis Meghan and her imported prince.<\/p>\n
The WHO\u2019s plan\u00a0appears to be\u00a0working. Alongside an eyeful of Meghan\u2019s crisp\u00a0off-white\u00a0jacket\u00a0came gentle reminders that Jordan is home to the second highest number of refugees in the world. Another\u00a0strike\u00a0for the Duchess, not forgetting of course\u00a0her\u00a0rather charming\u00a0husband\u00a0Prince\u00a0Harry, the\u00a0former working royal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only last year, the Duke of Sussex was derided in Vanity Fair<\/em> as \u201cthe kind of guy who would, frankly, happily work for charities for the rest of his life and would be very happy if Meghan made all the money\u201d. Well quite. And Jordan is reaping the rewards.<\/p>\n Yesterday the couple visited the regional headquarters of the phenomenal World Central Kitchen (WCK), a food and logistics charity present in Gaza and Ukraine and partnered by the couple\u2019s Archewell Foundation. WCK is the brainchild of Meghan\u2019s friend, the celebrity chef Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s, who appeared in the Duchess\u2019s Netflix show, With Love, Meghan <\/em>\u2013 a neat example of the Sussexes\u2019 capacity to combine commercial enterprise with a philanthropic uptick.<\/p>\n Only a couple of weeks ago Harry\u2019s brother, William, likewise enjoyed a trip to the Middle East, where he visited Saudi Arabia. You would be forgiven for not remembering much about that royal tour, overshadowed as it was by Uncle Andrew\u2019s unseemly Epstein antics. (Andrew has strongly denied any wrongdoing in the past.)<\/p>\n The Prince of Wales tried his best to clear the decks before departure \u2013 through a spokesperson, the Waleses kept it vague and said they were \u201cdeeply concerned<\/a>\u201c. With the world\u2019s media picking over the minutia of this platitude, few noticed William firming up diplomatic and environmental ties in the Saudi capital. In stark contrast Philip Hall, the British ambassador in Jordan, sounded pleased as punch when he told the Sussexes: \u201cYour visit, your support, your appreciation of the efforts that the United Nations, including, of course, the World Health Organisation, the government of Jordan and others, are making here is enormously appreciated. So thank you for coming.\u201d<\/p>\n I could go on (certainly, the ambassador did) but I\u2019m sure you get the point. In a post-truth world where the British Royal Family are as knee-deep in sleaze as the political class they\u2019re meant to float above, Harry and Meghan\u2019s appeal has been turbo-charged. When it comes to optics, the House of Montecito is thumping the House of Windsor.<\/p>\n Until recently much of the British press have preferred to scrutinise the tax returns and inefficiencies of Harry and Meghan\u2019s private financial ventures rather than drill into Andrew and Fergie\u2019s desperate dealings<\/a> with a convicted paedophile. Ironic, given that in September the Archewell Foundation announced a $500,000 donation to projects \u2013 including the WHO \u2013 supporting children in Gaza and Ukraine. It is a sizeable contribution from a couple who make their own money and appeal to their own shiny, liberal, new age donors. It turns out there really is a life of service after royalty, unless of course you are Mr Mountbatten-Windsor.<\/p>\n Which begs the question \u2013 when is William going to facilitate Harry\u2019s partial return to the royal fold? The blockage surely exacerbates the future king\u2019s testy nerves. At the beginning of the week, the Prince of Wales\u2019s deep concern had morphed into a self-confessed lack of calm at the Baftas<\/a>. He was too perturbed to watch Hamnet<\/em>. Such qualms are not good for monarchy \u2013 an organisation designed to \u201ckeep calm and carry on\u201d. Much of the toxic fallout from the Epstein files is beyond William\u2019s control, but the scandal eats away at the institution\u2019s credibility and support. It\u2019s all well and good ostracising Andrew, but Harry\u2019s continued exile suggests the Royal Family can\u2019t differentiate between the two.<\/p>\n Of course, amidst all the brouhaha, there is an easy win. Next time Harry is over (there\u2019s much planning afoot for the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham) William could extend a brotherly welcome to his infuriating but eminently loveable younger brother. A hug, a visible olive branch, a redemptive moment caught on camera \u2013 at this stage a gesture would suffice. <\/p>\n Last year when the Duke suggested that some members of his family would never be able to forgive him, he was talking about William. Wouldn\u2019t it be wonderful if, for once, team monarchy managed to surprise us?<\/p>\n Tessa Dunlop is the author of\u00a0Elizabeth and Philip, the story of young love, marriage and monarchy<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nYour next read<\/h2>\n
\n\t\t\t <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n